Category Archives: 2008 – 2009

May 6, 2009

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Hey guys. The spring semester has officially ended and I can’t wait for Summer A to start! Check-in for dorms started yesterday and continues thru today and classes begin tomorrow. I can’t wait for this summer. I already started having fun. The past two days I flew with friends to Tampa and visited Busch Gardens, walked around St. Petersburg and went to the mall in Brandon. It was a fun 2 days away from campus.

Classes last semester were awesome, especially grades. Finals went really well and were as smooth as possible. I will enjoy my all-female professor schedule for the summer and fall, haha. I am excited to take AT 200 (Air Traffic Management I) and BA 314 (Human Resource Management) for the first summer session. For BA 314, my professor already assigned us homework on Monday!

So far everything is going great. I move out of my room in McKay to my summer room in Adams. I am not looking forward to moving because I have so much stuff! It’s going to be a challenge and it has to get done. I will be a busy traveler this summer and also a studious student. I am going to enjoy the next few months as much as possible.

If you guys have any questions at all about anything at all, please feel free to email me. I appreciate the guys that have emailed me and I am glad to answer your questions. I am here to be a good resource for you guys so if can assist in any way please let me know. Tuition deposit was due May 1st, you can still make the deposit ASAP, and the housing deposit is due June 1st. Remember to file your FAFSA and contact admissions if you have any questions about the application or financial aid in general. I wish you guys luck in your admission process and hope to see you on campus in the fall.

Best wishes and safe skies,
Andre

May 1, 2009

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Hello Everyone! Well, this is it. I am officially done with classes. WHEW! It feels so great!

The past two weeks were spent finishing up my classes and the CRJ simulator course. I only had one final and it was in my History class. It was over a lot of material, but it wasn’t too hard after all. Other than that, the past two weeks were primarily spent in the CRJ simulator. What an experience! The course really does prepare you to fly a true jet aircraft in the real world environment. When I was done, my partner and I were able to fly the CRJ completely by ourselves from one airport to another! What a rewarding experience.

Well, this is it. I walk across the stage on May 5th and I will officially be in the real world. I will be returning home on the 7th of May to see the family for the summer. After that, we’ll see where the world takes me. It was a pleasure sharing my experiences with all of you guys for the past year. Thanks for listening and good luck to you all!

April 30

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Just like that, my freshman year is over! It sure has been a fun year, and it couldn’t have ended any better. On Monday April 20, I was elected as the new President for Delta Upsilon at Embry-Riddle. I was honored to be nominated and elected to this position. I know it will be a ton of hard work, but I am prepared to do anything necessary to make this colony succeed. I believe whole-heartedly in Delta Upsilon’s founding principles and their overall goal to “Build Better Men”. I take great pride in knowing my fraternity brothers have faith in me, and I am looking forward to doing a great job while creating a lot of amazing memories with them.

Along with taking finals this past week, I was also packing up and getting ready to head home. I had to do some major cleaning but I got it all done and was officially checked out of my dorm. It was a little sad to leave my room that I considered home since August. I left Daytona Beach early Tuesday and stopped in Nashville to spend the evening with my friend Brent and my cousin Susanna (in the picture in front of her dorm at Vanderbilt) who go to school there. Wednesday I made it back to Missouri where my family was excited to see me. The drive was long, but I truly love living in Florida and going to school at ERAU which makes the long travels worth it.

This past weekend my friends and I (and my car) made it to the beach one last time before we headed home for the summer. The weather in Daytona has been absolutely perfect (80’s and sunny). We spent all day under the warm sun and boogie boarding (because we aren’t skilled enough for real surfboards). I never get tired of the beach, and I already miss it being back in the land-locked state of Missouri. It has been in the 60’s and rainy since I have been home and I already miss Florida’s weather.

Yesterday I got more good news about the end of the semester: I received a 4.0 GPA for the spring of 2009. It’s so great to see all of your hard work paying off, and it was the perfect ending to the best semester ever. My classes and professors were a lot of fun this year, and it really showed. I truly believe if you are having fun in class you perform better, and my professors certainly made these last four months a lot of fun. From goofy stories about Malaysian tree shrews to dogs visiting class, it undoubtedly has been a wild spring.

I am looking forward to having a great summer. I have a lot planned including the Europe Study Abroad, my sister’s wedding, and a national Delta Upsilon conference in Albany, NY. I will also be working while at home to get some money for all of these activities. At the beginning of July I will begin writing a journal about my experience with Embry-Riddle abroad this summer, so check back in and see what I am up to on the other side of the pond. I hope you have an amazing May and June, and I will be back in July. Until then, please email me (meansm@erau.edu) with any questions about ERAU or college life in general and I would be more than happy to talk with you.

Until Next Time,
Mack

April 30, 2009

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Classes are over and grades have been posted; now summer can start…Yippee! My finals went alright and, even though I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, I’m glad to be done. My mom and sister arrived on Monday to help me pack my stuff and to do some sightseeing. We went to the beach, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, and miniature golf. I think they have enjoyed being in Daytona, but I’m so ready to hit the road towards Illinois. As my last journal entry, I figured I would answer a few common questions from a student’s perspective and give a few pointers to incoming college freshmen.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s a typical college day like?

This was a little different for me because I’m in AFROTC and have to wake up early for training. Also, it all depends on what your schedule is like. You will receive your schedule sometime in August and if you have any problems you can talk to your advisor when you arrive at school. Some people I knew went to class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 5 and then on Tuesday and Thursday would only have one class. Another thing your schedule depends upon is your major, business students will most likely have two or three classes per day. Most clubs get started in September and club meetings are usually held once a week sometime during the evening. The other time you can spend in the library working on homework, eating in the UC (Student Center), or hanging out with friends.

Do I ever get to leave campus?

My freshman year I didn’t have a car in Daytona and I still made it a point to go do fun things every now and then. The mall is within walking distance along with a few restaurants. Many people do have cars and are willing to take other students places like the beach or Walt Disney World. This year I had a scooter and enjoyed being able to leave campus whenever I had some extra time. If you are thinking about bringing a car down, it’s about $35 a year for a parking decal and there is limited parking space.

Do you ever get homesick?

I was nervous about leaving my family behind and coming some place where I didn’t know anyone; so, I made sure to bring lots of pictures and things that would remind me of home. I brought a couple of my favorite movies and music to watch and listen to when I needed to have a reminder of home. The best thing for me was being able to call home and talk to my mom and sister. However, once you get immersed in school the feeling goes away and the semester flies by. Do make sure you decorate your dorm room to look like an actual room and not just a dorm room.

Pointers

  • Be positive—remain positive when things don’t seem to be going exactly the way you had hoped.
  • Get involved—many people will tell you this, but it is true. Join a few clubs and you will be able to meet so many more people.
  • Don’t hibernate in your dorm room—meeting people is a good way to keep from getting homesick. Go to the buffet or student center and eat with a new group of people, you just might meet your next best friend.
  • Don’t slack off on your homework—waiting a day or two to do your homework will just mean you have to play catch up later in the week or on the weekend. This can cause you to be overwhelmed and stressed and result in you not enjoying your time in college.

I hope that you all have enjoyed my journal entries this year and I hope that they were helpful. Good luck to everyone that has chosen to attend ERAU!
Kaleigh Sides

April 23, 2009

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Finally freshmen year is over! I had my last class of the year yesterday and I am doing my final preparation for finals! I can’t believe my freshmen year went by so quick. It was full of different adventures, I explored new things and most of all, enjoyed it. I had a lot of great professors this year, they were all there for me whenever I had a question on something and they all had good advice. I can’t wait for the summer now to get my ATC required courses started. Summer A session I will be taking AT 200-Air Traffic Management I and BA 314-Human Resource Management. Summer B session I will be taking WX301- aviation Weather and HU141- Western Humanities II. I am so excited to take these classes. I have heard nothing but good words about the professors teaching those classes and I can’t wait to be back in class May 7th.

Over summer I will be traveling quite a bit on the weekends seeing that we have Fridays off during the summer. I will be going back home for a weekend or two, I will be going to Milwaukee and Puerto Rico! I will also be going to various places in Florida including Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Orlando.

This past weekend, Undergrad Admissions hosted a Sneak Preview event here on campus. Coincidentally, there was an Ooze ball competition hosted by Order of Omega that same day. I played ooze ball with First Generation and we got as far as the third round. Unfortunately we got beat by 3 points by my fraternity Delta Upsilon. We all had fun playing volleyball in the mud.

ERRSA had their spring semester banquet last night at the Shores Resort and Spa. It was so much fun! We had awards, food, dancing, slideshows from all the events this semester and initiation of the new Exec board. I was a really nice night out with the organization and I can’t wait for Summer B when they start up again for the 2009-2010 school year.

The semester and school year has come to a close. It was a long year but it was also fun. Thanks to all you guys that sent me emails over the past year. I hope that I have been of help to you guys. Still send me emails; I am here to answer any questions you may have. Remember to fill out your FAFSA forms, turn in your deposits and any other documents you need to turn in to Admissions or Financial Aid. I wish you guys luck and hope to see you on campus in the fall!

April 20th

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Hey!!
Ok, so Finals week.. AH they start Friday and my first one is on Saturday, yes SATURDAY at 5:00 pm. Who had the bright idea of doing that one? ughhh… But the semester is quickly coming to an end!! I have 2 tests to take this week and then it’s done! Right now though, I am burnt to a crisp!! It hurts sooo bad! I went with my roommate to watch one of our friends play a softball game and we sat out there for 3 hours!!! I am sooo smart I didn’t bring a hat or sunscreen, just my sunglasses. So now I have bright red shoulders and raccoon eyes… real smart!

I just had a question e-mailed to me asking if an Aerospace Engineering major can minor in flight.. and the answer is ABSOLUTELY! There are a ton of people here who do that, but it is a lot of work. Competition starts in May for Flight Team, and I made the nationals team so we are leaving May 9th! And we finally got our new plane, the Tecnam. There is talk about naming it Lola =) I added a picture of it for everyone to see. This summer sometime she will be re-painted in Embry-Riddle colors and properly decaled. I hope everyone has a GREAT vacation!!!
-Elizabeth

April 19

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Finals are less than one week away! It feels like I was just flying back from Christmas break, and now I am about to pack up and head home for the summer. This has been the fastest four months of my life, and the past two weeks were no exception.

Last weekend was the Task Force One incentive dinner. We all met up and went to Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse. The food was very good, and we had a lot of fun spending time together off campus. I have met some really good friends through TFO this year and I am very glad I was part of the organization. I would recommend any first-year student to become a part of TFO as it is a great way to get involved on campus and meet a bunch of new friends. This week, TFO is having an unofficial meeting where we all bring food and hang out one last time as TFO-ers. I am looking forward to these last few hours our organization will spend as one.

On Easter, my BA201 group (MoKurity) decided to hang out and spend the holiday having fun. We went to lunch and spent time at the beach. I think it is so great that a random group of kids from BA201 have become such good friends. Even though our group project was completed a week ago, we still meet up and goof around. We genuinely have a great time when we are together, and I am sure we will continue hanging out even past this semester.

Delta Upsilon is continuing to grow and become more and more active. This past week we took part in a canned food drive put on by Theta Phi Alpha, one of the sororities on campus. DU brought in over 100 pounds of food and we placed second! Also on Saturday, we took part in the annual Oozeball (mud volleyball) tournament. Those of you who came to the Spring Preview probably noticed a bunch of crazy people rolling in the mud and water. I had so much fun playing, especially with my DU brothers. We won two games and lost two games, but we all got muddy and that’s what matters.

On Friday some of my friends and I went to support the AcaFellas at their end-of-year concert. The AcaFellas are the male a capella singing group here at Embry-Riddle. They do a very good job, and it seems like they have a lot of fun. Check out my video of one of their songs (Apologize) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zw4AjVqF0g. After the concert, we headed over to the Student Union where Touch-N-Go Productions had another comedian. This time it was Dat Phan, the original winner of Last Comic Standing. The show was extremely humorous and I laughed pretty hard. TNG does a great job bringing big names to our campus, and everyone should look forward to and take advantage of these opportunities.

Finals start on Saturday and continue through Wednesday. I somehow have four finals scheduled on Saturday and my last one is on Monday. I am already trying to study some for finals as well as finish the projects in COM221 and assignments and tests in WX201 and PS142. I know I have said this, but I have really liked my schedule and all of my teachers this semester. Every class has been very different, but all of them have been fun and productive. Last Monday I got to register for Fall 2009 classes and this is what I have:

  • Financial Accounting – BA210 – Ledgerwood – MWF 9:15-10:15
  • Air Traffic Management I – AT200 – McGuirk – MWF 10:30-11:30
  • International Studies – SS325 – Edson – MWF 1:00-2:00
  • Economic Survey – EC200 – Kornecki – TTH 9:45-11:00
  • Themes in Humanities – HU145 – Straubel – TTH 11:15-12:30

Along with my fall schedule I wanted to let everyone know that I will also be taking part in the European Aviation Appreciation Program this summer. I will be writing my journal online as I travel with ERAU to London, Paris, Munich, and other cool places. Check it out this summer! I have to go study study study, but check out the site for my post-final entry. Have a great few weeks and thanks for reading!!!

Until Next Time,
Mack

April 19, 2009

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Hello everyone! I’m on the final stretch of my college career. Two weeks and I will officially be a college graduate. Real world here I come!

The last two weeks have been extremely hectic. I had four tests last week; however, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today I had my first simulator for the CRJ course. It was so much fun! My simulator partner and I put together everything we learned in the CRJ ground school and used it to fly the simulator with perfection. It was amazing to see how all of the studying pays off. Flying this 50 passenger jet isn’t much different than flying a smaller propeller driven aircraft. The only difference is that there are more switches and it goes A LOT faster! What I am trying to say is if you study and know the aircraft inside and out, you can fly anything. From a piper cub to a Boeing 777, they all fly on the same principle. Pull back on the yoke and the ground gets smaller, push forward on the yoke and the ground gets bigger.

Other than the simulator course, I’m pretty much just winding down for the semester. My classes are coming to a close and I’m beginning to pack for home. I have a job interview at a local flight school when I return to Dallas, Texas for the summer. I can’t wait!

April 19, 2009

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Only four days left of classes, yippee! This semester went by really fast and looking back on all the things I accomplished, it’s no surprise. However, the semester may be winding down but that doesn’t mean the fun stops! Next week, I get to go to Patrick Air Force Base and go for a ride in a C-130. I was supposed to get to do this last year but the plane was grounded for maintenance issues; hopefully, this year we will get to fly! My sister and mom are going to be here in eight days and I’m looking forward to that!

I’ve almost finished another semester of AFROTC! We have our Pass-In-Review Ceremony on Wednesday and that will complete the semester. On the 18th, we had Dining Out which is a dinner that everyone attends and we wrap the year up with a video and awards. We finally found out our dates for Field Training and I’ll be going to Maxwell Air Force Base on July 4th till August 1st. I’m glad that’s when I’m going because it means I’ll be able to attend my brother’s wedding. A lot of cadets in our detachment are going to this encampment, so the chances of me knowing someone in the flight next to mine are high. I mentioned in my last entry that I was waiting on approval to start my masters in a year, well I got the approval! I’m so glad because I think I’ll be able to either finish or be very close when I commission in 2011.

Last weekend, I was in Phoenix, Arizona with Silver Wings for NATCON. As I mentioned before, our Chapter was running for National Staff and we won! This means that I’m now the National Treasurer and next September I get to travel to Washington D.C. and spend five days there. I’m pretty excited about that! Silver Wings has been such a great opportunity because of the people I’ve gotten to meet and the opportunities I’ve had. If you have any questions about Silver Wings or other clubs here on campus, feel free to send me an e-mail! While I was in Phoenix, I attended my first major league baseball game-the Arizona Diamondbacks versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. I sat next to a lady that has sat in the same seats for the past twelve years! She was really nice and gave me a wonderful history of the stadium and some of the players. Next year, NATCON is going to be in Seattle, Washington and as National Treasurer I’m required to attend, but I think it will be a fun trip! At NATCON, we decided on our service project for next year-Go Green! This means that a majority of our service projects will be focused on helping the planet and becoming more environmentally friendly. We have already planned a tree planting project, road clean-up, and a camping trip for next semester.

My first final is on Wednesday in International Business, so I’m going to start studying today! Then, I have two finals on Saturday, two on next Tuesday, and my Business Law final is a take-home. I don’t think any of them should be too bad because, thankfully, none of them are cumulative. My last presentation was on Friday and it went pretty well; the teacher told us afterwards that it was A+ quality. I think my hardest final will probably be Corporate Finance; I plan on studying for several days for it. Next semester, the classes that I will be taking are: Air Force, Strategic Management, Aviation Insurance, Aviation Labor Relations, Management of the Multicultural Workforce, and Professional Selling. I think all of these classes sound pretty interesting, so I think it will be a good semester!

I hope that all of you that came to the Preview Day had a good time and saw what a great campus this is. For those of you that couldn’t come, check out the website and e-mail me if you have any questions at all. I know I had a lot of questions before I came to Daytona Beach, so don’t be afraid to ask!

Until next time,
Kaleigh

April 13, 2009

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Hey guys. There are only two more weeks until finals week… wooo hoooo! I am so excited for the end of this semester and school year. So much has happened and I had a lot of experiences. I wish my freshmen year would never end, it seems like only yesterday I was just the new kid on campus. But we gotta grow up some day! It’s been really hectic the past few weeks, getting final projects and assignments done and ready to hand in and also trying not to slack off at the last minute. With all that said, I only have two finals, BA 201 [Principles of Management] and PSY 101 [Introduction to Psychology]. I am working really hard to make sure I do exceptionally well this semester.

I will be doing summer classes this year in an effort to get certain classes out the way that are required for my new major. Seeing that I switched this semester, I think it will put in the place I need to be academically for the fall. I will be going home at the end of this semester for 4 days before I return back to Daytona to start summer classes. I am looking forward to taking these classes and spending time with a few friends that will be here for summer.

So far, ERRSA has been great. We are still working on the bid process to have the SACURH conference on our campus for 2011 [changed from 2010]. This week we selected our committee chairs and assigned people certain assignments to have done by the next meeting. First Generation is also great. At Relay for Life, we placed second overall for the team with most spirit award! It was 6 of us that stayed from 6 p.m. Friday night until 6 a.m. Saturday morning. We ran and walked a lot of laps. All together we did about 96 miles for the entire night. We have a lot of activities planned for the next 2 weeks to wrap up a fun filled semester.

Many of you know that Sneak Preview will be held on April 18th. I will be giving tours as an ERRSA member. I suggest those of you that haven’t registered to attend to do so ASAP if you are able to make it to the area.

I can’t wait to go back home to see family for a few days before summer classes. I miss them so much.

Again guys, if there are any questions that you have about anything at all, please feel free to email me. I am here to answer to the best of my ability, any questions that you may have. For those of you that accepted your admission to Embry-Riddle, congratulations, I hope to see you in the fall. Remember to get your FAFSA applications in and also to send in your housing contracts and all fees and documents needed to finalize your admission. Thanks to all of you guys that emailed me, I appreciate the comments. Keep on reading and always strive for the best in whatever you do.

Best wishes,
Andre